


Sex, bugs and rock's roll

by Fleppy85



Category: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:28:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24999835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fleppy85/pseuds/Fleppy85
Summary: The death of a rock star makes Sara and Greg busy. Because there are bugs involved Sara's husband and former CSI supervisor Grissom gets called in as a civilian consultant. Sofia helps out as it's a VIP case and is everything but a boring Deputy Chief. GSR with heaps of Sofia, Greg and also Lady Heather will show up.
Relationships: Gil Grissom/Sara Sidle
Kudos: 4





	Sex, bugs and rock's roll

"Sara, I've got a 419 for you. You can take Greg with you, in case he decides he wants to work with you and not with Morgan." Russell looked at Greg, who sat next to Morgan. They were in a conversation about their last case.   
"I thought they're still working a case." Sara leant on the door frame to Russell's office. Grissom's old office. Many times, when she came here, she thought of the time when her former supervisor, now husband, sat in this office and they talked. She missed working with him but being married to him was better than working with him. Especially since he was in Vegas and worked for the university here. Finally they saw each other every day, no more telephone calls and chats in front of the camera.  
"Almost done, she can wrap it up alone. The question is, does boyfriend Greg wants to be with you or girlfriend Morgan?"  
"I will find out." Sara took the sheet of paper and went over to Greg and Morgan in the break room. "Hey guys, I've a 419 and could need some help. To quote Russell: does boyfriend Greg wants to be with me or with girlfriend Morgan...what about you and Hodges?" She looked at the blonde. Rumor was Morgan and Hodges were a couple, at least they went out a couple of times - with their parents together. The only thing worse han going out with Hodges was going with Hodges and Ecklie. Poor Morgan, you couldn't choose your family, right?   
"What? Nothing!"   
"So Greg is your boyfriend?"  
"No! Russell just says this because...he's Russell..."  
"Okay." To her this made sense. Sara looked at Greg. "So?"  
"I'm all yours." He grinned and got up. "You can wrap up the case alone and we'll talk about this issue later."  
"Later, when you have to buy me a beer because you're wrong and I'm right; again."  
"In your dreams." He followed Sara, grabbed his kit on the way out and tried to get his eyes on the sheep of paper. "What is this case about?"  
"DB in the mountains, Jim is on his way too. No more information. What is it between you and Morgan?"  
"Nothing." His voice sounded defensive.  
"What is it between her and Hodges?"  
"Nothing...her father and his mother are dating...and for some strange reasons they believe, Morgan and Hodges are a couple too. I've no clue why and she never gave me a real answer to this question. All I know, they both had this double dates and hope, their parents meet without them; if they have to see each other at all."  
"Okay. What would you like to have between her and you?"  
"We're colleagues...just because you married your boss it doesn't mean everybody else dates somebody from work."  
"You can date her, lab policy isn't against it. Hodges and Wendy dated too."  
"Yeah...I will never understand why she dated him. What can possible be attractive about Hodges?"  
"Don't ask me. When you want somebody who points out attractive or sexy parts of Hodges, I can't be your source."  
"Women can always name what is sexy on a man. You're a woman."  
"Not when it comes to Hodges."  
"Does that mean before you image dating Hodges you imagine dating a woman?"  
"It means I'm married, happily married and the only man I think of is my husband. Maybe every now and then you, because you're my best friend. But I think of you like you think of a little brother."  
"It started so good and ended...not this good. Anyway, let me guess, you want to drive?" He lifted the keys.  
"Of course." With a smirk she took the keys and opened the car. Time to get up in the mountains. It was a warm evening, the sun set down a few minutes ago, by the time they arrived at the scene, there would be a lot of stars. What a pity she didn't have her husband by her side. A case with Grissom under the stars, in the mountains...wait, they had something like that. When he told her about a crime scene, it was a good make-out place. Right. They should go to this place, it had been a while they were there and...watched stars...

"Gosh, this isn't in the mountains, this is in the middle of nowhere...no, the middle of nowhere is too central, this is nowhere in the nowhere." Sara swore when she had to drove the car back a little bit to get over the rest of a broken branch. The forth or fifth on the road. Or the space between the trees they used as a road, it wasn't a real road, not even an real off road path.   
"It's a cross way, show me how good you are with a car. Or shall I drive if it's too difficult for you?" Greg offered with a smirk.   
"Shut up and look on the GPS...if it's still working. I don't want to get lost here."  
"It's working and we're on the right way. Less than a mile and we're at our DB. I wonder how Super-Dave will make it to here."  
"The same way we do. Swearing and late." Sara pushed the pedal to the metal and their car jumped over another branch, flew for a second before they hit the ground.   
"Damn it, you're not a cross rally driver." Greg held his head.   
"No, but I could be one, I'm good enough. Look, there are lights, we're almost there." Sara tried to speed up the car, but the trees and branches made it impossible. As soon as she accelerated, she had to hit the brakes again or their car would end up in front of a car.   
Glad to make it to the scene with a working car and a little bit sea-sick she jumped out off the car and took a second to get her feet used to solid ground again. The fresh air helped and when her eyes were right, Greg needed a second too before he got his kit.   
"Hey Jim."   
"Sara, you made it in record time."  
"Felt like ages. Who finds a body here? Who is here?"  
"This guy over there." Jim pointed to a man in his late twenties, who stood next to a woman around the same age. Both talked to officers and looked shocked. "He and his girlfriend were out for a hike, left the tracks for a shortcut and when he wanted to take a leek, he found the DB. Lucky for us and them, they have a walkie-talkie, a cell phone doesn't work here."  
"No surprise." Sara walked to the dead body, or what was left of it.   
"He or she is here for a few days." Greg said when he stopped next to her.   
"Yeah...there isn't much left of our DB, somebody was faster and hungry." Most of the flesh was gone, coyotes and mountain lions had their share before the bugs took over the rest.   
"So many bugs...and Nick is on his three weeks vacation in Europe, we don't have a bug man around."  
"Well, I know one." Brass looked at Sara.   
"What?" She knew exactly who he was talking about.   
"Your husband happens to be the best, why don't you give him a call?"  
"Because it's almost midnight and he doesn't work for LVPD anymore." And Grissom didn't come back to Las Vegas to work cases, he came back to lecture at the university. He made the decision not to work law enforcement anymore and people should accept it. When he was away in South America and Europe they handled their cases without him too.   
"I'm sure he will agree of being the consultant if you ask him."  
"No. That's not my job. I won't mix up my private life and work. If LVPD wants Grissom to work the case, Ecklie or whoever has to ask him. And his cell phone is off at this time, he needs to be back at the university around eight. Some people sleep at night." And right now she missed the time when she slept at this time too.   
"I'm sure he misses working at night."  
"Ask him. Tomorrow morning." Sara bent down. "I will collect a few of them, Greg can you start with the photos?"  
"Sure. Look, Super-Dave arrived. I bet he hated the drive as much as we did."  
"The trip up here isn't a joyride." Brass agreed. "I...uhm...well, I can't talk to any other witnesses. I'll call the ranger, inform them about this and...take our two witnesses back to Vegas. Enjoy your time up here..."  
"Thanks. I'm sure we're stuck here for a couple of hours" Sara missed already a fresh coffee. Until she got one, it would be morning, late morning.   
"Oh, one more thing."  
"What?"  
"We need an ID of this guy...woman...good luck with finding a wallet."  
"Just...let us work." She grumbled. Great. A wallet. How were they supposed to find a wallet? Whoever killed this person took it with him. Or it was taken away by animals, who loved carrying things away from the crime scene. Meant, they had to search the area. Precious. Searching the woods in the mountains for a wallet. At night.

An hour later when the body was taken away, Sara and Greg took a little break. So far there was no wallet, all they found was a ring. Nothing expensive, ordinary silver ring with a N as an eye catcher. If the killer took the wallet and left the ring, it was worthless. Greg found it soon after he started to look for the wallet and additional evidence, sent a photo of it to the lab, so they could check if it was mentioned in the missing person database.   
"Do you think our DB also took a shortcut?" He sipped on his coffee. Luke warm coffee. The only thing you got here.   
"I don't know. Our witnesses took a shortcut, I can't think of a reason why you want to hike here at all. There's no view and you have to watch every step."  
"Around a mile above us is a place with a view over the canyon and down in the canyon is a river, perfect for a swim. At least that's what the ranger told me." A few minutes after they arrived at the scene a park ranger joined them. "The first DB in a year."  
"Is this supposed to be good or bad?"  
"For this area good. People like to dump bodies here."  
"No wonder, a remote area, nobody comes here unless he's a hiker and they're the perfect target. Nobody hears you calling out for help, nobody comes here without a reason and there are no reasons to end up here except the shortcut to..." Sara stopped. Irritated she looked at Greg, who gave her the same look, she gave him. Yes, he heard that too. There was noise, it wasn't an animal, it was...an engine...didn't they just say nobody comes here without a reason? Their team was complete, they didn't except another cop or ranger, who...was the killer on his way back?   
Before they could react the noise became louder, a light appeared between the trees and came closer. Fast. No, this couldn't be the killer, all the lights they used made them visible for everybody and when you kill somebody, you don't get back to the scene when police and CSI were around.   
With one more loud engine noise a black cross bike stopped right next to them, a little bit of dirt from the stop flew on their clothes.   
"What the fuck...?" Sara starred at the person on the bike. Dressed in tight black leather pants, black leather jacket, covered in mud. Relaxed body language, like he had a ride on the beach, black gloves pulled the helmet off the head and...the man became a woman.   
"Sofia?" Now Sara was more than surprised. What was the former detective doing here? On a cross bike.  
"Deputy Chief Curtis, I had no idea you're a biker lady." Greg's jaw stayed down, where it dropped when Sofia stopped her bike next to them. Their old colleague was...he had no idea, his brain didn't work anymore.   
"Sorry it took me so long." Sofia shook her long blonde hair, got off the bike, put the helmet on it.   
"We had no idea you'd come...since when does the Deputy Chief come to a crime scene? In the middle of nowhere."  
"A favor for the Sheriff and Undersheriff. Where was the DB?"  
"Why are they interested in our DB?"  
"Remember Izzy Delancy?"  
"Sure." Like she remembered everything of the miniature killer; especially the part where she became a victim. Did Sofia want to tell her, this case was related to the miniature killer case? That was impossible.   
"You've found the young and successful version. Natas Live, a heavy metal rock star, who was missing since one week."  
"Natas Live? Are you serious?" Greg's jaw ended down again.   
"Yes. The ring is his, we need autopsy to confirm, but so far it looks like it's him."  
"His music is great. He's the new Marilyn Manson."  
"What happened to the real Marilyn Manson?"  
"He is old, Natas Live's music is more...alive."  
"Well, he isn't anymore, I guess that makes Marilyn the winner."  
"Oh my god, imagine we find evidence linked to Marilyn, we can get him into the department and talk to him...a real star in our department..."  
"I'm the primary on this case and you won't talk to Brian Warner, you're too much of a fan."  
"You know his real name, you must be a fan too."  
"No, I've a friend and I listen to the things he tells me. What do you want here, Sofia? Are you here to make sure we don't make mistakes?"  
"I'm here to tell you who your DB might be and make sure, everything is done the way it should be. And to handle the press, who will be here within the next hours. I try to keep them off your crime scene, ordered a few more officers. And yes, I'm also here to tell you to work faster. Means, break is over." She took Greg's coffee. "Go back to work and maybe I told the officers to get fresh coffee here, we'll stay a few more hours. Oh and Greg?"  
"Yeah?"  
"No fan comments when the press is around - or the Sheriff. They find out you're a fan, you're off the case. It's between us, okay? At least for now."  
"Okay." Natas Live. He worked the scene of Natas Live. 

The sun was up when they heard a new car coming. Before there was noise of various cars in the distance, probably reporter, trying to get close to the scene. Officer also chased away reporter taking photos of the crime scene and getting too close. So far they hadn't found a wallet or any other personal belongings of Natas Live, the size of their scene might go bigger.   
"Here are so many traces, it's hard to say if it was a fight of human or animals fighting over the flesh." Greg kneed down. A shoeprint? Maybe. Not a good one, all they got from it was a size. Could be one of their own.   
"I have blood." Sara was next to a bush. "Looks like high velocity spatter." She took various pictures of leaves with blood drops on it. "When he was hit on the head with a stone, this could be our primary crime scene."  
"Or you had an animal feasting on the fresh wound, its snout in the flesh, covered in blood and it shook its head here. Like the case the two of you worked one and a half years ago, when the old couple was killed by their cat and parrot."  
Sara and Greg turned. This voice didn't belong to their scene and yet it was very familiar.   
"Grissom." Greg looked surprised at his former boss. He didn't expect him here. When Brass said they should contact Grissom, Greg thought for lab work.   
"What are you doing here?" While asking this question Sara knew the answer. They had their bug man. Somebody called Grissom and her husband agreed on being their expert civilian consultant.   
"I heard you have a lovely collection of bugs."  
"At the lab."  
"So they won't run away. I wanted to see the scene too, see where they came from. Don't worry, I won't destroy any evidence." He smiled at his wife, enjoying the confusion he caused.   
"Don't you have a lecture at eight?"  
"I rescheduled it."  
"Who called you? Brass?"  
"No, Sofia. It's not Brass's job to call me. Nick is in Europe and you need somebody to make the bugs talk. By the way, you missed our breakfast date."  
"I'm working." How could he mention their breakfast date when they were at a scene. He never did that years ago, when he was her supervisor. Okay, it was not necessary to pretend, they were only colleagues, they were married and everybody knew it. Nevertheless there was no need to get their private life to here.   
"So am I. Where was the body?"  
"Greg, can you show our consultant the place? I continue to work here."  
"Sure." Greg gave Sara a second look, but the brunette had already turned back to the bush. To him it looked like his friend wasn't that happy about the appearance of her husband. Something he didn't understand.   
"We found the man here, it's Natas Live."  
"Is that name supposed to mean anything to me, Greg?"  
"Uhm...he's a heavy metal star...never mind. Next to the body was a silver ring, we sent a photo of it to the lab and they found through missing person data out, it's him. He's been missing for a week."  
"There are maggots left." Grissom got down and lifted a maggot up. "Looks like they had a lot of food."  
"Can you tell how long the body had been here?"  
"Well, from what I see at least three days. Dermestes beetle. Now you will tell us more about TOD, won't you?" He lifted another beetle. "Do me a favor, Greg, get me a few more of them. They're really good evidence. You can never enough bugs."  
"Okay."   
"And I work on something else." Grissom walked over to Sara, watched her taking various leaves as evidence.   
"You knew they'd call me."  
"They wanted me to call you when we arrived, I told them I won't mix up my private and work life and if they want you here, they've to call your themselves. In the morning and not in the middle of the night." She didn't stop working.   
"You're not happy about me being here, are you?"  
Sara sighed, stopped and turned. "I'm always happy to see you. What I'm not happy about is, that they talked you away from your work, made you come here and will watch us the whole time like we might be about to do something...I don't know, stupid? Interesting? I feel like there is a bunch of paparazzi around and we're their Hollywood couple. I don't need my love life in focus of everybody."  
"I'm having some time on my hands and actually, I was happy when they called. After over three years of being away, not working cases, I look forward to go back for a couple of days, work with you and the others and leave the lab when the case is closed. About being under a microscope because I work with you: If they have a problem with us working a case, they shouldn't have called me. They did, knew you work the case, I guess they're fine with us. And when I talk to you it's not always about the case. You're my wife, I will have a private conversation with you, when we're both on a break.  
When they need to star at us, talk about us, I suggest, they get a life of their own."  
"The gossip hasn't stopped the last years." Sara's voice was softer. He was right and she did him wrong, being a little bit snappy. He was an expert and having him on the case, helped all of them. Did she really care when people looked at her and Grissom? They were married for over three years, by now everybody should be used to it. Even when they hadn't been at the department together since Warrick was killed.   
"It will never stop. Did we ever care?"  
"No, not really."  
"See. Now, if you tell me you don't want me working the case, I will step back. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable with me around. Shall I leave the scene and go home, Sara?"  
"No." She thought about for another second. "No. Stay. You're the best and when you can have the best, you should take the best."  
"That's why I married you." He whispered so that only she could hear it, blinked at her and walked back to Greg, leaving a speechless Sara behind. 

"Isn't it handy when your private life matches perfectly to your work life?" Hodges leaned on the table, Sara sat at and worked on evidence.   
"I beg your pardon?"  
"You're here, your husband is two rooms down the hall. After all these years of not working together, you have him back. How does it feel?"  
"Is that any of your business? Don't you have your own private life involved in work enough? Shouldn't you organize another date for your mother and Ecklie? With him as your step-father you might become king of the lab." Not the nicest thing to say, but she was sick of him being around her, asking questions about her and Grissom, pointing out her husband was in the same building and waiting for some gossip.   
Before Hodges could answer she got up and left the room with her evidence. Somewhere had to be a place where she could work without being interrupted the whole time. Greg was down in autopsy, maybe she should join him there. Doc Robbins sent everybody out, who didn't belong there and most people didn't come down there, couldn't stand the dead bodies all around.   
Slipping into a tiny room at the end of the hallway, she closed the door, played for a second with the thought of placing a chair under the doorknob and got her attention back to her evidence. The crime scene photos didn't rule out a second person around the scene, like they didn't give her any clues about who could have been there. Plus until she didn't have COD it could have been an accident.   
How ended a heavy metal star up in the mountains? Almost an hour drive away from Vegas. Off the road, on a small path, only rangers used with their SUV. And even with a SUV it was difficult to get there. No hut, no campsite, nothing around. Everything pointed towards it was a body dump, all logical thoughts suggested this.   
Now when she looked at the other side, what reasons could Live have had to be there. Voluntarily. Had he been looking for a quiet place? After all, heavy metal singer were also only human and needed some quiet time too. A place to refill his batteries, to write songs? Heavy metal songs made in the Nevada mountains? Sounded more like a country music story. Lonely cowboy in the mountains...no, that was Brokeback Mountain.   
A date? Did he take a date to the mountains? If he did, what happened to his date? Was the date the killer or was the date killed too? They hadn't found any evidence about a second victim. Or did they fight, the date left and he was killed by...whatever? But why not call the police after not hearing anything of your date for a week? Or was it a break-up? They needed more information about Live.   
The door was opened and Sara rolled her eyes. What now? Another one who wanted to know how it was working with Grissom? If she was happy her husband was back and worked with her. Like in the good old times?   
"Hey, are you hiding?" Sofia entered the room and closed the door behind her.   
"Not very good, as it seems."  
"Let me guess: Hodges wants to know how you feel having Grissom back here."  
"And many other things about my private life, all not his business."  
"Sorry, I knew it would end up like this, but he's the best and our bug men isn't around."  
"At one point they'll be done with gossip and go back to work." At least that was what Sara hoped.   
"They better do. We have the manager of Live here, want to come with me and ask him a few questions?"  
"Since when does the Deputy Chief work cases? Don't you have Captains to do this? Or detectives?"  
"High profile case requests higher ranks. The press is all over the building, security had to stop two of getting into the morgue, taking pictures of the body. On the internet are a few dozen theories why he's dead, what he did in the woods. Most of them sound like they were taken out of a fantasy movie."  
"I'll have a look at them later. Okay, lets talk to the manager."  
"A real asshole, by the way."  
"Isn't a Deputy Chief more...political correct?" Sara followed Sofia out of the room and down the hallway.   
"And what's the political correct version of ''real asshole', Sara?"  
"I can think of a few but you're the Deputy Chief, can't say them to you, might get me in trouble." The brunette grinned.   
"The way it sounds it will get you into trouble with me...keep them to yourself then." Sofia opened the door to an interview room. A man in his thirties sat there, dressed in black with white make-up in his face. To Sara he looked more like a fan of a heavy metal band than a manager.   
"Mister White, I'm Deputy Chief Curtis, this is Sara Sidle with the crime lab."  
"Are you sure it's Natas?"  
"All we have is the ring, you identified as his ring. Could you get us something to compare DNA? Toothbrush? Comb?"  
"Better." He opened his hand and a hollow needle appeared. "I brought you his blood."  
"What are you doing with his blood?"   
"He had a couple of them in his room."  
"Why?"   
"To drink it. He liked his drinks extra bloody."  
"Did he pretend to be a vampire?" Sara asked. The last time she had a case involving people, who drank blood,   
"A vampire? Natas was beyond them." White smiled amused.   
"Natas Live...Satan Evil." Sofia said. There had been something about the name, that irritated her from the beginning.   
"He was the God of darkness, ask his fans."  
"And what did the God of darkness do in the wood? Up in the mountain?"  
"I don't know but he'll have his reasons."  
"Was he involved?"  
"When you're asking if he had a partner, let me tell you, Natas had a lot of sex, with a lot of people. He didn't need one partner, he could choose."  
"Where did he choose them?"  
"From the concerts, from the hotels. Wherever Natas is, there are a lot of willing sluts, who wants to give themselves to him. Maybe he took one or two of them up there, have fun in the mountains, the different air increases the pleasure."  
"We didn't find any other bodies."  
"Well, maybe he was killed there by one of two of them. Your job to find out."  
"You don't seem to be very sad about his death." Sara said. There was no sorrow in White's words, he talked to them like they were chatting about the weather.   
"He's where he belongs, he rules hell now. It was what he always wanted to do. Sure, it's a pity he left so early, we could have made a couple of more dollars, but I'm sure he has a hell of a party now. And if you ask me, I think the devil himself came up from hell to get Natas down to him. They were brothers, brothers who are together now and can take over the world."  
"You really believe he's the brother of the devil?"  
"That's what he believed too."  
"Okay...he was a Las Vegas resident, wasn't he?"  
"Yes."  
"Did he have a doctor, anybody he went to frequently?"  
"Not that I know of."  
"Do you have a key to his house?"  
"He didn't live in a house, he lived in a hotel room. Black Jack Master, room 5395."  
"Do you have a key to this room?"  
"No, he never gave a key to his room to anybody, like he refused to have house keeping coming in when he wasn't around. Natas needed the control above everything, including who came to his room. When the housekeeper wore a cross pendant, she wasn't welcome in the room. Bad good spirit."  
"How did you get the blood?"  
"I told the manager he's dead and you guys need DNA."  
"We appreciate your help but the next time it's better to call the CSI team first, so we can get evidence from the room. Now it's contaminated."  
"Sorry, I wanted to help you guys out."  
"Did you touch anything else than the fridge and the blood?"  
"Hell no, why should I?"  
Because people tempted to take things out of rooms, that might incriminate them and Sara was sure, this man wasn't as innocence, as he pretended to be. 

"How comes LVPD didn't have the address of the vic?" Sara asked when she and Sofia stood in front of the room of Natas Live.   
"Because the address of Natas Live is bogus. When he changed his name years ago, he also changed the address and it's an empty lot. We checked it already."  
"Are there any relatives?"  
"Nobody is listed."  
"Well, we know about the brother in hell." Sara smiled and opened the door, let the office go in first to secure the room.   
"Yeah, I've no idea how to contact him. You?"  
"No, not really."  
"What do you think about White?"  
"I think if we find out he profits from the death of his star, he has a very good motive to kill him. He didn't seem to be surprised or sad about Live's death. Then again, he's the manager and a dead rock star makes you a very rich man. Plus I believe he took more than the blood for DNA out of the room."  
"Room is clear." The officer came out of the room.   
"Thanks." Together they walked into the room. "No housekeeper, huh?" The room looked like somebody throw a bomb inside. Furniture laid on the floor, covered in rubbish, empty fast food bags, bottles, DVDs, CDs, a guitar and...there was a chicken. Alive.   
"Uhm...what did he do with the chicken?" Sofia looked at the animal.   
"I've no idea..." The brunette's head popped to the right when she heard something or somebody in the other room. "I thought the room is clear." She draw her weapon to let it down the next second. "A goat?"  
"The typical animal of the devil...I bet the hotel owner doesn't know about this little farm in the room. Hey Mitch, can you call animal control? We've got a chicken and a goat in the room. Alive."  
"Seriously?"  
"Deadly serious." Sofia stepped over a chair to have a look in the second room. The bedroom. It looked like the living room, the big bed in the middle was covered in clothes, dirt and other things, she had no idea of, what they could be. Fact was, they didn't need room service, they needed back-up to work on the room. And the hotel had to renovate the room.   
"I think I go and talk to the neighbors and the manager of the hotel. He won't be happy to hear a goat and a chicken lived in his hotel...or live."  
"I called Greg and ordered him to come here. He said COD is still unknown. Doc Robbins works on it. The sent samples to tox."  
"Well, the way the body looked it will take a little bit longer. If you need me, I'm around."  
"And I...I think I start with getting the animals out..." So, how would she catch the chicken and the goat and where could she leave them until animal control was here? They were evidence too, but destroyed evidence by walking through the rooms. A box for the chicken and a rope for the goat would do it. Gosh, her job never became routine or boring. 

"Wow, anybody ever say again my place looks like a dump should see this room first."   
"I hope your room doesn't look even close to this."  
"No...why are there a goat and a chicken outside?"  
"Because they're evidence." Sara lifted a laptop from under the couch.   
"Ah...they were in here?"  
"Yes. Why don't you start in the bedroom? It will take some time until we're done here."  
"Some time? I guess we go home before we finish here." He was right about this. It was ten in the morning, they were on the clock since twelve hours. Two or four more and it was time for them to go home, call it a day and continue later in the evening.   
"Lets get out what looks most promising, get it back to the lab and let trace work on it. We'll be back here tonight."  
"Grissom said, our TOD is around four days ago, he tries to narrow it down."  
"Okay."  
"It must be awkward for you to have him around, but it feels good to have him back. Even when it's only for one case, I'm glad I'm the lucky one, who can work with him on the case. Wouldn't want to miss that for anything."  
"Tell him, maybe he buys you a breakfast."  
"We should all have breakfast together when the case is closed. In spirit of the good old times."  
"Why don't you focus on the present? The bedroom, Greg?"  
"All women want me in the bedroom, I'm such a heart-breaker." He smiled and went into the bedroom.   
She didn't comment this, turned back to the desk. Empty used coffee cups, an empty whiskey bottle and...a notebook. She opened the first side and found a drawing of the devil. Not a surprise in a room like this. Slowly she skipped through a few pages until she came to the last week. No appointments, nothing was written down. The week before had various entries, he gave two concerts in Las Vegas, a few letters were written down on each day. Initials of people he met? Some had a plus, some had a minus attached.   
"Was this guy connected to a blood bank?" Greg came back.   
"No. He kept hollow needles to drink his own blood, according to his manager."  
"Hollow needles? There are more than hollow needles in the fridge next to the bed and when the blood is only from him, he must have been without any blood in his body. I found at least four pounds."  
"Test it. If it's his blood, he collected it, otherwise he might had donors. Willingly or unwillingly." He was a singer, after a concert, when he chose his company, there were many possibilities to get their blood. When they agreed all he needed was a needle, if they disagreed, Sara was sure they'd find drugs in the room too. 

"We can take one car to the lab or drive in separate cars, what do you prefer?" Grissom asked after he and Sara finished their dinner.   
"Don't you want to stay here? You worked already ten hours."  
"I know and I will work two or three more until I'm done with my work for today. You worked more hours than I did." He pulled her in his arms and kissed her. "Don't overwork yourself."  
"I won't."  
"How much sleep did you have?"  
"Six hours. Much more than I used to have years ago."  
"We both know what happened years ago, we don't need it again. I worry about you. Promise me to come back home earlier tomorrow. Before lunch."  
"I try." She closed her eyes and leant into his body. If somebody offered her a few more hours of sleep, she would take it. The problem was, her case was a high profile case, the press and the Sheriff were all over them, wanted answers. By now they should have COD and with this, they had to work out how Live was killed or died.   
"I will finish with the bugs and if you need me for anything else, let me know."  
"I need you for many things, the problem is, you're the expert for bugs, we can't have you work the rest of the case with us."  
"You need to find a few more bugs then. Weren't there any in the hotel room? After all, you found a chicken and a goat."  
"I bet there are fleas, but I didn't find any bugs...except for bed bugs. Greg sent them to the lab."  
"See, I can work with them, might even have a look at the room. Not that I have to but I like to see my wife at work. Years ago, when she was my girlfriend, I put her on my cases to spend more time with her."  
"Yeah, I bet Ecklie realized it after he knew about us and was mad he didn't realize earlier what was going on."  
"We worked our cases, there was no reason for him to be suspicious. When we talked about us at a scene, nobody was around."  
"Mhm...I remember the case of the boxer, who was shot, poisoned and various other things, at the farm. These women hit on you."  
"They liked my hat."  
"Sure."  
"And I still believe sex without love is pointless, doesn't make you happy. Lucky for me I'm married and my wife makes me very happy. A reason why I decided to stay in Vegas. There were enough weeks without you."  
"Tell me about it...oh shit!" Sara pushed him away. "We need to cancel our appointment with your mother, you remember, the breakfast appointment tomorrow morning..."  
"Honey, calm down." He pulled her back in his arms. "I did that already this noon, knowing this case will keep us both busy. We'll have breakfast with her next week."  
"Oh, good." Betty Grissom didn't like it when appointments were canceled the last minute, she told them off twice for doing so. Nobody wanted an angry mother-in-law.   
"So, back to the car issue? One or two?"  
"Two, you go home before I do."  
"I could pick you up when you're done. Never had that back in high school? A boyfriend, who came along to pick you up?"  
"No."  
"Not?"  
"Did you pick up your girlfriends in high school?"  
"Sometimes, when I wasn't too busy."  
"So barely. You've been busy in high school with your bugs. That's why women went crazy after a while."  
"Not my wife." He smiled. "She's still with me."  
"Treat her good if you want to keep her."  
"I will. Okay, two cars. I want to have breakfast with you, Sara. We cancelled our appointment with my mother, that doesn't mean you can stay away for a double. Your shift ends at six, try to be back at eight, okay? I'm sure Russell won't be mad when you do only two hours of extra time. He seems to be a good boss."  
"He is, like I said last year, he reminds me a little bit of you sometimes."  
"Eight?"  
"Nine?"  
"Half eight."  
"Deal." Both knew their breakfast appointment wasn't set in stone. If anything important came up, Sara had to stay longer. But with the promise to be back at half past eight, she wouldn't let many things get in her way. After all, she learnt years ago, her life was more than work and since she was married, her private life was much better and more exciting than work. 

"COD was an overdose." Greg sat down next to Sara. He came straight from Doc Robbins with the autopsy report. "LSD, Speed, Ketamine and a good amount of vodka. He made sure the devil would come and pick him up. He had a trip to hell."  
"Or somebody made sure he was picked up. Did we find a bottle at the scene?"  
"No, we didn't. Not in close range. It's possible he drank the bottle somewhere and walked for a few more minutes before his deadly cocktail kicked him off his feet and later the life out of his body."  
"Possible. What about a car? He drove there, his car must be somewhere. If not, the killer took the car with him."  
"No car yet."  
"Wanna go back to the scene tomorrow?"  
"Sounds like we have to. Tomorrow morning?"  
"If you want me to join you, it will be tomorrow afternoon. Unless we have no other choice, I go home at eight. A few hours of sleep will be good for us before we look for more evidence."  
"Okay, so it's tomorrow afternoon. Six?"  
"Latest, in case we can go home on time we cam also meet earlier."  
"Six sounds good, give us two more hours of day light at the scene. What are you working on?"  
"His laptop. Archie got me into it, I try to find out what our vic did every day. The notebook wasn't helpful, most things were only mentioned with two letters. I try to get more information from his email account."  
"I had a look at his Facebook page, Natas was supposed to be on stage tonight. Sold out concert in the Trash, a metal club half a mile east of the north Strip. His records are number one in all online shops, there are dozen of articles in the internet about how he died and if he really was the devil or related to the devil."  
"What do you think?"  
"From what I saw at autopsy he was quite human, Doc Robbins didn't mention anything else. So I doubt he was taken home by his brother, like his manager said."  
"Strange guy, the manager." Sara opened the email account of the victim. The first two she found were for music, tour, fans, this one seemed to be more personal. Looked like even the evil Satan paid his taxes and bills online. And on time. If his fans knew this?  
"HK...I saw this initials in his notebook, once a week." Sara clicked on the email that had as subject only appointment and no further explanation. "Uhm...Greg?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Do me a favor, get me a name for this telephone number, please." She gave him the number and waited. If he said the same name she had written down in front of her on the screen they had a new lead.  
"Doctor Heather Kessler...as in Lady Heather?"   
"That's what this email said. Apparently Natas Live was a patient of Doctor Kessler. And in his notebook HK is written down once a week."  
"I wonder if it's a coincidence he sees a psychologist who owns a SM club and web page. Do you think they might know each other...private? Or met when she wasn't doctor Kessler but Lady Heather?"  
"No." As much as Sara wanted to believe this, it made no sense. She met Lady Heather ...doctor Kessler only twice but...knowing she was...a friend of Grissom...and they were more than friendly twice...or so...she didn't want to continue this thought.   
"We need to see her." Greg looked at his watch. "As a doctor her office time is over."  
"Well, looks like we need to visit her at home. Late night visit."  
"Yeah..." A knock on the door let them look up. Grissom.   
"Hi, do you have any news?"  
"Uhm...I go and see Sofia..." Greg said quickly and vanished out of the room. He had no idea how much Grissom and Lady Heather were involved, what really happened, there were a few rumors and when only ten percent was true, he didn't to be around when Sara told him about what they found out.  
"Our vic was a patient of doctor Kessler." She tried to let her voice sound calm, a matter-of-fact voice and knew right away, it didn't work out.   
"So he was in good hands."  
"If you say so."  
Grissom raised an eye brow. "I assume you will see her."  
"Indeed. Are you an expert for her too?"  
"You don't need me there. I'm done with the bugs, if you don't get new ones, I'm off and back home."  
"Okay...Gil?"  
"Yes Dear?"  
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."  
"Don't worry, it's okay." He knew she was very sensitive when it came to Heather and he had no idea, how to change that. Heather was a friend and he never betrayed Sara with her, but he knew she was aware of the relationship between them, when Sara and Grissom weren't a couple. He told her himself.  
"I will treat her like a witness, not like a suspect."  
"I never doubted that. Go, talk to her. I'm sure if she can help you, she will do so."  
"Yeah...she'd help you more."  
"No, she will help you the same way she would help me. Don't forget to be back home in time, I'll wait for you." He sent her a smile and left the room.   
Great, she acted like a idiot and he took it without losing his temper, without giving her a tiny little bit to be mad at him. In this scene she was the bad one and she had no excuse for herself. Meant, she better was back home in time and got him something...something like...yeah, what do you bring your husband when you're sorry because you acted like a stupid, jealous bitch? 

With Sofia Sara arrived at Heather's place, while Greg went back to the hotel room to get the remaining evidence into the lab.   
"Nice house." Sofia said when they stood in front of the big stone building.   
"Yeah." Sex and therapy seemed to pay good money. What did Cath tell her six years ago? Heather claimed twenty thousand dollar a week? And that was another six years before. So the woman must have enough money.   
There she was, she opened the door herself and didn't seem to be very surprised to see them.   
"Doctor Kessler? I'm Deputy Curtis, we'd like to ask you a few questions."  
"I assumed you'd come. Good evening, Sara."  
"Heather." Why call her doctor Kessler when she called her Sara?   
"Come in." Heather stepped aside to let them in. "You're here because of Natas Live."  
"Yes."  
"Would you like some tea?"  
"No, thanks."   
"Well, then have a seat." Heather guided them to a table with four chairs, sat down and watched women, like she tried to read their minds. A therapist, a psychologist. Sara wondered how much Heather could see, how much she knew. The death of Live had been all over the news, being his therapist, it was obvious sooner or later the police knock on Heather's door to talk to her.   
"You've been the therapist of Live. When did he contact you?" Sofia asked.   
"Around a year ago."   
"Why did he see you?"  
"He had an unusual sexual desire, that made him feel guilty and worry, he might end up in jail."  
An unusual sexual desire, that might get him into jail? Were they talking about Live being a pedophile? And wasn't Heather supposed to tell the police if this was the case? The doctor patient confidence didn't work when a child was at risk.   
"Was he a pedophile?"   
"No, Sara. In that case I had informed LVPD."  
"What did he do?"  
"He had sex with animals."  
For a moment Sara was sure her ears played a practical joke on her. Live had sex with animals and saw a therapist because of that? Then she felt sick when she thought of the goat and the chicken.   
"That explains the goat and the chicken in his room." Sofia seemed puzzled too but got the connection between their discovery last night and Heather's statement.   
"He had sex with the goat and liked the chicken to watch."  
Sara was sure it sounded ridiculous and at the same time disgusting. A man had sex with animals. Yes, it was illegal in Nevada and in her eyes, it should be illegal everywhere in the world.   
"We found the animals in his room, I guess his therapy wasn't very successful."  
"No, he didn't make the progress we hoped for. Twice he sold his animals, both times he got them back after a week."  
"Is his manager aware of his...sexual preference?" Sofia asked.   
"No, nobody was aware of it. They asked questions but because of the image Mister Live kept, they seemed to be a part of his image as the devil."  
"So he never believed he was the devil or the brother of the devil."  
"He was convinced he was the brother of the devil, the human brother and only after his death he'd become a real devil too. How did he die?"  
"An overdose. Did you or a doctor prescribe him any medicine? For his...unusual desire."  
"No, he tried to work it out with therapy."  
"Did he use illegal drugs?"  
"What do you think, Deputy Chief? He's...was a rock star, of course he used drugs. From what I know, he used all kinds of drugs to set his mind free. This is what he said, I believe he used drugs to escape reality."  
"Most people do."  
"He missed one of your appointments last week, didn't he?" Sara remembered that HK was written down on a day, he was missing.   
"Yes. It wasn't unusual that he missed out appointments, there were a lot he cancelled within the last minute or didn't show up. We talked about it, I told him, we can't work on his problem when he skips therapy."  
"Did he have a relationship? With a human."   
"No, he had sex, most times with various partner and all different kind of sex. If you want to know if he was a visitor of Lady Heather, Sara, I can tell you, yes, he went there frequently. After I became a therapist."  
"So you never worked in your old profession with him."  
"No. You can talk to the women and men he saw there, they will talk to you."  
"Thanks. You're very cooperative."  
"I've always been cooperative."   
"Most times." Not when Sara met her the first time and Heather was the victim. She never told them who tried to kill her, no matter what they did and refused to cooperate, refused to give them evidence.  
"We found him in the mountains, away from the hiking paths. Did he go there frequently?" Sofia asked to get their focus back to the case. She knew Sara and Heather had a complicated relationship due to Grissom's relationship to Heather...whatever his relationship was.   
"Not that I know of it."  
"Do you know where he got his drugs from? Did he have a dealer he used most times?"  
"Somebody from his band."  
"Do you know his manager?"  
"No, I didn't interact with him outside my office. I do know Live didn't like his manager a lot, but he was good, made him to what the press saw in him. It was a very successful work relationship."  
"His death is very good for his bank account, all his albums are on top of the charts. Did Live mention a family member?"  
"No...well, let me rephrase it: we talked about his childhood, about his family but he didn't have contact to them the last years. When he became a rock star, they turned away from him and he broke with them. They're both very religious and think, their son is the devil."  
"Exactly what he wanted the world to believe. Do you have anything that could help us find the killer?"  
"Was he killed?"  
"Well, it was an OD, we didn't find any bottles or pill dispenser. If he took the drugs we found in his system and the alcohol, where is the bottle? Did he take the drugs alone? Or with his band?"  
"He took drugs whenever he felt like it, in his room, on stage, at an after show party."  
"Okay, thanks for your cooperation, doctor Kessler." Sofia got up.   
"You're welcome. My regards to your husband, Sara."  
"Thanks, I'll let him know." The brunette tried to be as relaxed as possible. Regards to your husband, she was sure, Heather and Grissom had met since he was back in Vegas. They kept in contact when he was in South America. And now she wanted to know, if they met here and he didn't tell her about it. 

"There were no other finger prints in his room. Not even from the house keeper." Greg said after he came back from Live's hotel room.   
"Did you find anything helpful?"  
"I don't think so. There weren't any drugs in the room, so either he put them in a place I haven't found or he didn't have some in his room."  
"According to doctor Kessler he took drugs everywhere."  
"How was meeting her?"  
"She was very helpful and forthcoming."  
"And you still hate her."  
"I don't hate her."  
"You just can't stand her." He smiled.   
"I don't have to like everybody, I like you, isn't that enough?" Although she liked him less when he asked questions about Heather.   
"That's the most important thing. What now?"  
"Well, we have some outstanding evidence from the room, have to work on some evidence from the scene and talk to the band, he worked with."  
"We'll meet Live's hells angels?"  
"If that's the name of his band, yes. And we take two officers with us, in case the hells angels are more like devils. I've a feeling they won't cooperate and don't like police a lot."  
"We get this a lot, somehow being a law enforcement person doesn't make you popular."  
"We're not here to be popular, leave that to the politicians. And as far as I know, they're not popular neither."  
"We're here to find the truth, I know. Who will we take with us? Sofia? Or two other officers?"  
"Two officers. Sofia is off the clock. A Deputy Chief doesn't work every night."  
"No, she works during the days...I think it's a shame she doesn't work cases with us anymore. She was a good CSI and a great detective. I liked working with her, she was a help when I had to face court because of the death of Demetrius James."  
Another part of her past, she didn't want to think of. Greg on the ground, covered in his own blood. "Now she's a Deputy Chief and can tell you what to do."  
"Still, she's a part of our old team. I think, the team we had six or seven years ago was the best team ever. I miss this time and these people sometimes." Greg sighed. Not that his colleagues now were bad, he liked them too, but back in the days, with Grissom, Cath, Warrick and Sofia, work was much more fun. They were like a family and over the years, he lost most parts of his family. Not a nice experience. 

On time Sara left the lab. When she, Greg and the two officers found the members of Live's band, they were all under the influence of drugs and not in a state of mind to give them any helpful answers. In the late afternoon, when the effect of the drugs was out of their system, they would talk to them; and their lawyers.   
A black Harley Davidson stopped next to Sara in the car park. Surprised, because this wasn't the usual vehicle you saw here, the brunette stopped and had a closer look at the machine. Black, big, loud and when she pictured herself on it, there was a feeling of freedom. A motor bike license. She had one since college, but the last time she owned a bike was a long, long time ago.   
"Are you on your way home or to a new scene?" Sofia took off the helmet and shook her hair.  
"A Deputy Chief on a Harley Davidson, unusual. Like the cross bike. Since when are you a biker?"  
"A couple of years. I always loved Harleys and four years ago I decided it's time to get a license and a bike."  
"What about the cross machine you came with to the crime scene?"  
"My cross machine. When you own a bike it's like you're on a vacation every time you get on it. Plus it's much easier to get into remote areas with a bike than with a car."  
"Probably. To your question: we have the band in custody, they're all so high, it was impossible to get an answer out of them, that made a sense. We'll try it in the afternoon again. Greg and me will go back to the scene this afternoon, have a look for evidence for another person around. And if he was alone up there, we must find his car. The ranger will have a look for an empty car too."  
"What time do you plan to go there?"  
"Around four."  
"I join you, you need a cop with you anyway."  
Sara smirked. "Since when are you a cop? You're a Deputy Chief, you don't do cop work anymore."  
"Hey, I'm still a cop. You leave here at four? Means you'll be up there around five."  
"Are you coming on your cross bike and this tight leather pants?"  
"In bike clothes, yes. Security first, Sara."  
"Sure, security. It has nothing to do with looking sexy in tight leather pants on a black bike. See you later, Deputy Chief."  
"You will."  
Taking a little detour Sara got some fresh fruits and vegetables from a little corner supermarket before she drove home. Two hours earlier than she and Grissom had their appointment. Enough time to go out for a little run, have a shower and then breakfast.   
Finding her husband asleep in the bed she changed her mind from jogging to waking him up. It had been a while that she kissed him awake and came home before he was awake. For a run she could go out every day, this chance wouldn't come in a while again. So it was only sensible to change plans. 

"Did you meet Heather since you're back in Vegas?"   
"No." Grissom looked up from his newspaper. "Why?"  
"She says hello."  
"Oh. Well, if you need to see her again, tell her hi from me. And if my wife agrees I'd meet her for a coffee."  
"Since when do you ask if you can go out for a coffee?"  
"Since you're very jealous when it comes to the person I've coffee with. I don't say it's not my fault, but I don't want you mad or worried. That's why I haven't met Heather yet."  
Sara sighed. Great, she was the bad one. She and her jealousy. Unnecessary jealousy. The two times he slept with Heather they weren't a couple. The first time was before they ever were together and the second time was after she told him it was over. So it was her own fault.   
"I'm sorry...maybe...do you think Heather would meet us both for coffee?"  
"You want to meet Heather? As a social call?" Now Grissom was surprised. He liked the idea, had it himself a couple of times, but Sara suggesting it set it in a different light.   
"Yes. When we meet for coffee, have a talk, I see the two of you acting like any other friends, my damn jealousy might disappear. I don't want to be jealous but as soon as I see her...I see her with you...you with her and...you know when we worked the case six years ago, when Heather almost got killed, Cath said something while we worked the scene, that's stuck in my head since that day: Heather is beautiful, smart, intense, charming. The only woman I've ever seen rattle Grissom. She's uninhibited, can beat him at mental chess. They had a chemistry and he's a scientist. I have no proof and I know he'll never tell me, but I'm certain they spent the night together.   
I do know you did and I can live with it, we weren't together but...her words...they made and make me feel like I can never hold the candle to Heather and I'm scared you will find out she's much better than I am when you're with her."  
"Honey." He got up, pulled her in his arms and kissed her forehead. "I love you. What Cath said about Heather, yes she is beautiful, smart, intense and charming, but you beat her at all these four categories. Why do you think I gave up my life here and came to you in South America? I love you and want to spend my life with you, you're the only I want to hold in my arms, you make me happy. With you I can talk about science, sport, history or whatever else comes to my mind, you always understand me. You're independent, let me have my freedom, miss me as much as I miss you when we're apart and we both hate politics and dress up parties.  
I should have told you about Heather and me when we became a couple, I should have told you that I thought it's important I'm with her during the case, because of her suicide attempt and the problems with her grandchild. Keeping things to myself made a lot of things harder for you to understand, made you wonder and worry.   
If you want to have coffee with Heather and me, I'm sure she'll agree. And maybe one day you two might become friends too. Not after one coffee, but there's no rule that says, you can have only one coffee together."  
"When I examined her in hospital, took photos of her throat, I had for a moment the feeling, we have something in common. She responded to the attitude Brass gave her, like I did to Ecklie."  
"Yeah, there are some similarities." Grissom chuckled. "I will give her a call later and ask her if she wants to meet us for a coffee after you closed the case. Do you think you'll see her again to get more information?"  
"At the moment I can't see why we would visit her again, but we don't have much. You were right, she was very cooperative."  
"Told you so. And now you should go and get some sleep, you want to be back at work early this afternoon. Time to catch some sleep and be rested for the night."  
"You have to go to university?"  
"Yes, I'll give two lectures today, will be back home for lunch, take Hank out for a walk and meet you for coffee and lunch around half past two. How does this sound to you?"  
"Very good." She kissed him. It was good to spend more time with him, the job in Vegas agreed much more with their married life than the ones abroad. 

"Look who's coming, Superwoman." Sara mocked when Sofia stopped her cross bike next to the brunette and Greg. They had started their search for more evidence half an hour ago, without an officer by their side and felt absolutely safe and fine.  
"I think she's sexy in black leather, on a bike...her pants could be shorter, the jacket could be only a bra and it could rain...but for a start it's not too bad."  
"Are you slobbering over the Deputy Chief?"   
"No, over our former colleague. A sexy one."  
"What does your girlfriend Morgan say about this?"  
"Morgan isn't my girlfriend."  
"Not?"  
"I thought so too." Sofia had heard the last three sentences. "Being with Ecklie's daughter could be good for your career, Greg."  
"Right now he pictures the Deputy Chief half naked on a bike in rain. The career isn't as interesting as a half naked woman on a bike with wet clothes."  
Greg blushed. Why did Sara say this?   
"Do you? I thought you get paid to find evidence."  
"I'm looking..."  
"Yeah, but not for evidence."  
"Maybe not for the evidence we expect him to look for." Sara grinned and got her arm around Greg. "Come on, Greggo, we don't have much time until it gets dark. We need to find a bottle or anything that helps us out with what Live did here and if he was alone or not."  
"I talked to one of the band member two hours ago. The last night Live was seen, he was in a club and left there around midnight. Alone. Drunk and stoned. According to the drummer it never stopped him from not driving. He got into jail once for DIU and paid four times a high amount of money for it."  
"So he left alone, did he have some company before?"  
"A girl gave them both a BJ in the men's bathroom an hour before, he didn't pay any more attention to her when he was done and when they had dinner Live vanished with the waitress for a few minutes. Like doctor Kessler said, he had sex but not a partner."  
"Except for the goat." Greg made a grimace. What a disgusting story.   
"And if we knew about this case earlier we could have had a look at traffic cameras but after a week there won't be any videos of the night..." Sofia's walkie-talkie made some sound. "Yeah?"  
"One of the ranger found an abandoned car a mile north of your position, off a dirt road. The license plate says it's Live's car."  
"We're on our way, thanks." She put the walkie-talkie away. "New evidence. Do you both want to come with me, or just one? Greg, care for a ride on the bike?"  
"Without a helmet? No! I saw you driving, I know the path, I take the car and I don't think we should split. We either finish here or go all up to the car. Sara?"  
"There's evidence and we should work the surrounding before the tow truck comes and gets the car into the lab and destroys the evidence around."  
"Okay, then we have to get back to the path and to the dirt road a mile up north."  
"I wait there for you." Sofia smiled. On her bike she was faster than the CSI and could secure the scene - or start looking for some evidence. After all, she had been a CSI too and knew what they were looking for and how to process a crime scene. 

"Why am I not surprised Live's car is black?"   
"You're a smart guy and you like this kind of music too. Did you buy his albums yesterday or did you have them before?" Sara asked when they stopped their car in sight of the black car, half hidden in a bush.   
"I had his albums before, even watched a concert a couple of months ago. A weird performance, just what you expected from a guy like him."  
"People came to his concert for the music and weird shows. I think, the show is as much as important as the music is. Without make-up KISS are just another rock band."  
"Their fans won't agree." Greg took his kit and walked to the car. "No skid marks. If somebody was here, this person didn't have a car. Or not parked here. The window is down, not broken. Maybe Live left the car here to walk around. We found him a mile down, it's easier to walk down the hill than up."  
"And probably is somewhere between here and the place we found his car, evidence we need." Sofia said, putting her walkie-talkie away. "I ordered two dozen of cadets to search the area. You can't do it alone, even when we assume, he went straight down to the place we found the body. Hopefully they'll be here soon and we can start the first search in daylight. For their way back we'll need flashlights. Are you okay for a couple of hours here?" She pointed towards Sara's shirt. When the sun was gone it would get cold here and when the investigator had nothing else than her shirt, she'd catch a cold.   
"Yeah, I've got my jacket in the car. We get two dozen of cadets? Just like that?"  
"Not just like that, just because you're here with the Deputy Chief. Sometimes it's good to have rank you can pull and use to help your favorite former CSI colleagues."  
"Show-off." Sara smiled. They'd get cadets, a really good help. If she and Greg had tried to work their way from here to the crime scene, it had taken them ages. "We start with the car until they're here." The brunette walked to the vehicle. "It's half in the bush, driven off the road. The hood hit the tree, I guess Live's trip ended here because his car is stuck." Carefully she opened the door. "No blood."  
"I've an empty bottle of vodka on the backseat." Greg took the bottle and bagged it. "There is our vodka...and another bottle. Maybe he cleaned his car as often as he let the room clean. Number three is under the passenger's seat."  
"I've got a pill." Sara lifted a pink pill with her tweezers. "Looks self-made."  
"Lucy in the sky with diamonds. Here are a couple of prescription pills. Benzodiazepine. Did Lady...doctor Kessler say anything about medication?"  
"No, only about drug abuse. He used drugs to free his mind...and when your Ketamine trip is bad, you need another medication to get rid off the trip. Any traces of a second person?"  
"No."   
"You know, when we process here, we've to get the car out of the bushes, get the car into the lab. Time for a car condom."  
"Yeah, then we can work on it later in the lab, when it's too dark for here. Wrap it, work the area around and work our way to the crime scene with the cadets."   
"I get the foil."  
"A car in the wilderness for over a week, I can't see anything missing, the radio is still there, the pills." Greg checked the glove locker. "His papers, his driver's license. Looks like nobody came along for a week."  
"The ranger told me, this road is barely used, was closed off four days last week because they worked with dynamite two miles down and closed it for security reasons." Sofia explained. "I can't see any fingerprints on the trunk, if somebody opened it, it must have been a couple of days ago and the prints are under the dust." A thin layer of reddish dust was all over the car, the areas Greg and Sara touched with their gloves were visible.   
"Is it a dead end road?"  
"Yes. It ends less than a mile further up. The ranger use it to check on the area, you have a good view over the area in all four directions from up there. There's no real car park when you drive up here and somebody comes from the other direction, you have a problem. I guess that's is the reason why not many people come here."  
"Yeah, too much of a hassle to be a favorite make-up spot."  
"The make-up spot is another road, half a mile up here. The highest road of the area, ending in a car park, with a look west, perfect for the sunset."  
"Have you been there?"  
"No, I got information." The blonde smiled. "Now that I know about the spot I might go there."  
"Want company?"  
"Cleaned the mess in your apartment?"   
"Of course."  
"If you want to date, can you talk about it when you're off the clock?" Sara asked amused. "We have some work to do, Deputy Chief. As a CSI you're busy all the time, we don't have slave, who do the dirty work for us."  
"I'm sure Hodge would enjoy to be your slave. Come on, give me some gloves, I help you wrapping the car."  
"Perfect, you can do that with Greg, plan your date and I get our car a few dozen yards down the road so the cadets won't get onto my crime scene." Sara turned and mumbled loud enough for both to hear: "Morgan won't be happy to hear her boyfriend flirts with another woman; an older one."

"And these guys weren't high anymore?" Sara had never talked to people, who apparently were sober and talked so much bullshit. When one sentence made sense, the next one was so confusing or said the opposite of what they just heard. She had no idea if anything of the things she heard the last two hours was true.   
After searching the area between the car and the area they found the body and coming up with no obvious evidence that a second person was around, Sara and Greg followed the tow truck with the wrapped car to the lab and worked on the car. They found traces of what highly likely were drugs, another empty bottle of rum, a porn magazine, used condoms, empty fast food bags and a few more pills. When Sofia came back to work at six in the morning, they started talking to the band members.   
"They should be sober...but I get your point, what they said sounded more like they were on a trip." Sofia agreed.   
"Not the first time drugs were sold in jail."  
"Come on, they were in the department jail, not in real jail...okay, if you want, you get them everywhere."  
"Exactly. So, what did we learn?"  
"Natas was an asshole, arrogant, bad to the bones and had sex with the guitarist...who of course isn't gay, he was only stoned...and didn't enjoy it. But it wasn't rape, it was conjoint."  
"Yeah...I bet he's gay and afraid of admitting it. Doesn't look good on a rock star. All the cool guys could start and call him a faggot. Bad for the career."  
"He said he wasn't with Live the night he disappeared but he didn't have an alibi."  
"Or he didn't give us an alibi."  
"You mean, he was with a man? Might be. His band colleagues didn't see him and when I remember correctly there's a gay club just down the block from where they partied."  
"How do you know, Sara? Have you been there?"  
"Not your business, Deputy Chief. My sex life isn't your business."  
"What will Grissom say when he hears his wife was in a gay club?"  
"Maybe he was there with me. Like I said, not your business. But when you read the reports of the last two months you might find out, I worked a scene there."  
"Oh...no gossip for the lab."  
"You've always been above gossip."   
"Gossip can be fun, but most times it takes away time from work, so you have to work overtime to catch up. Talking about catching up, are you all right in case we've to see doctor Kessler again? She said, Live didn't have a relationship, didn't have a girlfriend. She never mentioned his boyfriends, or sexual relationships with men."  
"Sure, why shouldn't I?"  
"Say hello to you husband? I don't have to be a psychologist to know, you don't like the fact, she has contact with Grissom."  
"They're friends. I don't have to be a fan of all his friends. To answer your question again: no, I don't have any problems seeing her again. Shall we go there now?"  
"No, we wait until later. I bet the good psychologist has her first patient already. Why don't we call it a night and go home? Or you go home after sixteen hours and I stay a little bit longer."  
"Sounds good to me. Will you work a double too?"  
"I'm afraid it won't be much less than a double. Lets meet around five at doctor Kessler's place for a few more questions. And I try to come up with something for the press conference. We haven't found anything yet."  
"When you say it this way it sounds like we're not capable of doing our job. Try to rephrase that to: we haven't found any evidence of a second person around, which makes it very possible, that he committed suicide, but we can't confirm it at the moment."  
"No, we can't confirm it but it looks like it. I'd like to ask doctor Kessler if she thinks he could have committed suicide. As his therapist, she should know."  
"So we'll meet her this afternoon. I'll be there just before five. Good luck with the politics and press, Deputy Chief."  
"Thanks. And stop calling me by my rank, Sara. I'd like to see us as old colleagues and friends and not as CSI and Deputy Chief."  
"You're the Chief, whatever you want." Sara blinked at the blonde and left the room. Time to go home, get some sleep and be back at work way too early. Well, she started early yesterday and finished late today, somehow she got a rhythm. The wrong one. 

Grissom watched his wife sipping her second coffee. The dark shadows under her eyes told him, she worked too much and didn't get enough sleep. It wasn't as bad as it was years ago, but he hoped she wouldn't pull so many doubles in a row anymore. He knew from himself, at one point your body needed to rest and if you ignored this, it would take what it need. First your mental state got worse, at the end you broke down.   
"Why didn't you sleep a little bit longer?" He sat down next to her, took her hand and enjoyed for a second the feeling of her hand in his.   
"Because I've to be back at work before five, Sofia and me have to ask Heather a couple more questions."  
"I called her today. If it's okay with you, we meet for coffee on Sunday."  
"Sure, until then the case should be closed." Sara paused. "What did she say? When you asked her. Was she surprised?"  
"A little bit. I told her it's important to me because you and her....somehow your ways cross quite often and it would make things for all of us easier when the awkward moments are past."  
"They do." The brunette finished her coffee. "Did you see the press conference about our case?"  
"I did. The guy died of an OD and there is no evidence pointing towards he was killed. It's not officially a suicide, but Ecklie let the press believe, the lab rules everything else out."  
"What do you think?"  
"You found empty bottles, pills, drugs, he was an addict and abuser, no evidence of another person, no signs of blunt or sharp forced trauma. When you can't find any evidence of a killer, it's likely there was no killer. To me it looks this man drove to the mountains, had a lot of alcohol, drugs, started walking around, got lost, lost conscious, died of his OD and animals started to do what they do: they ate the meat they found."  
"He abused animals, maybe them eating his body was a kind of revenge."  
"Since when do you believe in karma?"  
"I believe in justice, that's why I'm a CSI."  
"And I believe you'll close the case tonight, will be back in time for breakfast tomorrow and I find you sound asleep tomorrow afternoon when I come back from work and can wake you up with dinner; candle light dinner."  
"That's something I want to believe in." She bent over and kissed him gently. "I love you."  
"Love you too."  
"Breakfast and candle light dinner, don't forget them. I need to go now, otherwise I'll be late. Cross your fingers we close the case tonight and there's a good chance tomorrow evening I can stay home and we have the candle light dinner."  
"Now, that's something I want to believe in. And want to experience. Make sure my wife comes home safely, will you?"  
"Of course." One more kiss and it was time to leave. Somehow it was harder to go to work when she knew Grissom was home and she missed an evening with him. Sometimes she wondered if she shouldn't change shifts, work days and have more time with her husband. The thing, that stopped her was, she liked her shift, her friends worked there and when Grissom took a job abroad again, dayshift didn't get him any closer. And sooner or later he'd go again. 

"Deputy Chief Curtis, Sara, you are on time." Heather left them inside the building and guided them into a small living room.   
"I don't call you and tell you we'll be here at five and then arrive at six. We all have better things to do with our time than sitting around and wait." Sofia said.   
"Can I offer you some tea or coffee?"  
"No thanks."  
"Thanks, I take a coffee." Sara smiled. Wasn't this a step forward? She took an offer from Heather with a smile. "Black."  
"Your shift just started, early again, you will need caffeine. Of course a few more hours of sleep would be better. The same for you, Deputy Chief, you both look tired."  
"Comes with the job. Glad you have a nine to five job now?"  
"There's still the responsibility for my other establishment, Sara. The next time you want to talk to me, you can come later, gives you more time to rest. I don't go to bed early, the night hours are still in my blood after all those years."  
Sofia raised an eyebrow surprised. What was this? Doctor Kessler and Sara in almost friendly conversation while the psychologist poured coffee in two china cups. Did she miss something? The whole part of becoming friends since the last meeting. Unusual.   
"Well, the Deputy Chief wants to go home, we couldn't come in later."  
"Then we should get started, shouldn't we?" Heather handed Sara the coffee. "You have a few additional questions, what are they?"  
"We talked to Live's band members, one said, they had a sexual relationship. Did he ever mention this to you?"  
"Yes. Live was very open when it came to sex and his partners. He preferred animals, the goat, slept with various women, but he also had sex with men. If you ask me, he was gay, I don't think so. I think he tried everything in order to get his mind off animals.   
The singer Live didn't care about rules, about what the government says, he made his own rules and preached chaos, hate and death. The private person was scared somebody might find out about his sexual preferences. He was aware it could get him into prison and for a person like him, getting in jail for having sex with an animal, was a nightmare. He would have become a victim of rape and torture, parts he praised in his songs. Talking or singing about violence is different to being the victim of violence. He lived in a constant fear somebody found about him, send him to jail. It took him a long time before he opened up to me, believed that whatever he says here is confidential."  
"He used the idea of him being the devil to have the goat around. Could you help him?"  
"A sexual preference isn't changeable. For years doctors thought homosexuality was a disorder, you could change people back to 'normal'. Religious groups still think the same. People who came and see Lady Heather got labeled as sexual abnormal, when all they did was, following a feeling they had. Nothing is abnormal when it comes to sex when you see it through the eyes of nature. What makes things abnormal are rules and moral of human cultures.   
Here, what he did, was illegal, in other countries it isn't. A man in an African country had sex with a goat, when he got caught, he was forced to marry the goat. Many cultures have stories and art about zoophilia. In other countries it's not illegal. I don't say what he did was right, you don't know if the goat wanted the same. But as long as sex is conjointly, it's not wrong."  
"To me it sounds wrong."  
"Which absolutely fine, detective. It's your job to do what the law of this country tells you to do. If you don't agree with the rules of the country you serve, you can't do a good job. To me Live had a sexual preference, that scared him, made him worry a lot, torn him apart from the inside. That was why he was here, why I tried to help him."  
"Did it worry him enough to commit suicide?" Sara asked.   
"Yes, he had suicide thoughts."  
"Do you think he could have committed suicide?"   
"When you see yourself forced to change into something you're not and scared every day people might find out about your biggest secret, which will get you into jail, thoughts of suicide appear and under the influence of alcohol and drugs he might have thought, it was the only way out.  
Did you find anything that supports this thought?"  
"We didn't find any evidence that tells us, he wasn't alone, was killed. The crime scene, the car, his room, all point towards a suicide."  
"When you have only evidence of suicide and none of murder, it was a suicide." Heather smiled sadly. "He isn't the first who committed suicide because he was scared of society, he won't be the last. Therapists lose patients every day because of this. And there's nothing we can do."  
"Even in jail, when they're under surveillance, people committed suicide." Sofia said.   
"True. So you will confirm what you said today at the press conference?"  
"Well, Sara and Greg will work the night on the case and when there won't be any evidence pointing to a murder scene, we'll close the case as a suicide case." The blonde looked at the brunette, who nodded. When they didn't find any new evidence, that told them, Live was killed, it was a suicide case and they would close it. 

After they worked the whole night on the evidence from the car and the few things the cadets found, Sara and Greg came to one conclusion: suicide. Or an accident. Fact was, there was no evidence, that suggested Live had company at any time during the night he died. Not from the time he got into his car, drove to the mountains and died there a few hours later.   
The tox report told them, he couldn't have been poisoned with all the drugs before his drive. It had killed him on the road and not in the mountains. Meant, he got the drugs, the alcohol, drove into the mountains for whatever reasons and overdosed in his car before he started walking around. If he did it to get help or because he looked for a good place to die, the CSIs had no idea. And it wasn't their job to find out. Their job was to figure out if it was a suicide or a murder and if it was a murder, catch the killer. With a suicide there was no killer and their work was done.   
"My report is ready, Ecklie can call the press and tell them, the assumption of a suicide is correct." Sara closed the computer program.   
"I'm also almost done. A suicide, what a pity. He could have made a few more records, live a couple of years longer, but I guess he was too scared people found out about his secret." Greg shook his head. "Do you think people will find out?"  
"Depends. Ecklie won't say anything about the zoophilia to the press, but you know, somehow information get out, especially when a celebrity dies. I'm afraid, his secret will be well known by the end of next week."  
"What did happen to the goat?"  
"It's the zoo...and when people know about the goat, they will come to the zoo and there will be idiots, who will try to do the same to it, what Live did. Or to other goats. You know fans, you know people do act strange. It's supposed to be funny but it's not."  
"Maybe it's better when they get it somewhere else, on a farm nobody knows and nobody cares about news from Las Vegas."  
"Yeah...we'll see what happens, it's not in our hands." Sara got up. "Do you leave now too?"  
"A few more minutes, I need to find Morgan. She believes I owe her a beer."  
"A beer?" The brunette smiled.   
"Yeah, we had a bet and...she didn't win...anyway, when she's done I want to buy her the beer and we can forget this thing. What about you? Do you have breakfast date with your husband?"  
"I do. In a diner a few blocks away, we....never mind, it's a longer story."  
"One day when we've got time on our hands, you can tell me the story. You know, I'm up to great Las Vegas love stories." He grinned.   
"You're always up for stories, no matter if they're love, crime, horror or drama stories. Enjoy your beer, I see you tonight."  
"No you won't. I'll have the night off and get my sleep. You should do the same."  
"I put in a request for Sunday night off." After the coffee with Heather in the afternoon. Maybe they would need a little bit longer and Sara didn't feel like rushing through the meeting. It was important to her husband and she wanted him happy. Like he made her happy every day.   
"A romantic Sunday with the husband, like an old married couple." He teased with a soft smile.   
"We are not old but a married couple. I see you around, Greggo. Good luck with Morgan." She grinned and left the room. Greg and Morgan. Yeah, to her it looked a little bit like they liked each other. A lab romance. Not the easiest thing, but they were colleagues, nobody should have anything against the relationship. There wasn't a lab policy for relationships between colleagues. Only CSI and supervisor, as she knew. Gosh, the meeting with Ecklie after then all found out about her and Grissom had been...hilarious. Grissom and she told him different stories about when their love relationship started. Two years, nine years. We always had a relationship. If it hadn't meant they couldn't work together anymore, it would have been funny.   
The black Harley stopped next to her when she left the building to get to her car, that was parked off the street a block away. When she came back to the lab, she was hungry, stopped at a sandwich bar and left her car there.   
"Ready to go home?" Sofia asked and opened the visor.   
"Yeah. No more evidence, we finished our reports, Live committed suicide."  
"I thought so. Want a ride?"  
"My car is a block away."  
"Ah come on, I can see in your eyes that you want a ride on this baby. The way you look at it, you have a license yourself and took my baby here and the cross bike out for a few rides in your mind."  
"I do have a license, yes." Sara let her eyes run over the Harley. The black color in the morning light, the silver steel, the black tires. Yes, she thought a couple of times how great it would be to take the bike on a ride and she toyed with the idea of getting a bike herself. It had been years, before she came to Las Vegas, that she owned a motorbike.   
"See." Sofia opened her backpack and got a helmet out. "I've your helmet, you can take the bike and me for a ride."  
"Don't you have to work?"  
"Nobody will complain when I come in a little bit later, usually my days start at nine, we've after six."  
Another look at the bike. Temptations, temptations. "Okay." Sara took the helmet. "I take myself to the diner Grissom is waiting...including a little detour." She slipped in front of Sofia.   
"If you prove you're a good driver I might borrow you my cross bike for a trip up into the mountains."  
"Why not the Harley?"  
"Because you wouldn't come back with the Harley."   
The brunette laughed. Could be true. The image of her and Grissom on the Harley, riding into the sunset on Route 66 was very nice. She wasn't sure if she would be able to turn and drive back to Vegas. Maybe they would run away and start a new life somewhere...with a Harley, an old rock song, a couple of beers, living the easy rider way. Sex, bugs and rock'n roll.


End file.
